


Our Place in the World

by salty_mommy



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Athletes, Crushes, Domestic Disputes, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Dynamics, First Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, Japanese Character(s), Japanese Culture, Karasuno, Protective Karasuno Volleyball Club, Self-Discovery, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Strained Relationships, Strangers to Lovers, Strong Female Characters, Tutoring, Verbal Abuse, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28856844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salty_mommy/pseuds/salty_mommy
Summary: Life isn't hard for a studious girl who is good at managing her responsibilities. That is, until she decides to take on the responsibility of tutoring a carefree and fearless volleyball player. Then everything starts to go sideways as Maki Chou realizes that opportunity doesn't always knock, sometimes it just bursts open the door.
Relationships: Nishinoya Yuu & Original Character(s), Nishinoya Yuu/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	Our Place in the World

If there was one thing Maki Chou lacked, was free time. For the past year, the teachers had let it slide that she didn’t join a club due to her integral role in her family’s business after school, but now that her older brother had formally taken over the business and hired more staff, she no longer had an excuse. 

In lieu of formally joining a club and participating, the volleyball club at her school had mad her a proposition, one that she would shortly wish she had refused. Shortly before summer break began, Sugawara Koushi, the equal parts genius and equal parts beautiful volleyball vice captain came to her with a deal. She would be an honorary member of the volleyball club, Chou wouldn’t even have to participate in any events. She would just have to tutor someone after school a couple days a week. It was time studying, which she did every night anyways. Still, it was time spent with another person, and in Chou’s past, that hadn’t always been the best experience. So, begrudgingly, she agreed. 

* * *

Her hair was a soft, frosty brown, it glittered like it had silver tinsel in it in the sunshine as she swept the entranceway of the shop, her thin, round glasses rimmed her sharp, black eyes, she was a common sight in the town. Chou’s family owned the oldest shop in the town, the sake shop. They made it all by hand and with the same recipe their family had been using for generations. Over time, the family had splintered into shops in every region of Japan, all were Maki Sake, but this was the original Miyagi prefecture location. In that fashion, her hair was done up into an elegant topknot while she wore a plum colored samue and sandals. No matter what she did, her movements were graceful and perfect it all seemed very ritualistic. 

“Chou.” She looked back into the shop, shading her eyes from the hot summer sun with her hand, “Come stock the shelves please.” Her brother ordered sternly. He had the same frosty colored hair, but harder features. He would, no doubt, wrinkle prematurely and become the spitting image of his father and grandfather before him. He stood where Maki men stood for many a generation, behind the counter, attending to the records. It was mostly a facade, the company was far too large for him to manage all by himself, but as the most direct inheritor, he was the final decision maker for all of the branches their family had about the country. Far too much for one man to take account of all by themselves, but small enough for him to feel the need to give everything a second glance before submitting it to the accountant. 

Chou did what she was asked wordlessly. She didn’t need to do this, of course, up until recently, she was the holder of the Maki name, but as tradition goes, it would all go to her brother. There were plenty of workers to do so, but she liked earning her money and her brother seemed satisfied in ordering her to do tasks. 

She went back and forth stocking the shelves. She lost time in the rhythmic action before a tap on her back caught her attention. She turned to see her sister-in law. A slender, dark-haired woman of thirty-two. She was submissive and soft-spoken, the most beautiful thing in the store among glittering bottles, the perfect wife. “Chou-chan, there is a boy here for you.” 

Chou held back a sigh. “Thank you, Onee-san” She was polite and poised, nodding her head gracefully before setting the last bottle on the shelf. Chou dusted off her calloused hands and rounded out the back of the shop, bidding the employees a good evening as she rounded the back where her bicycle was. Chou mounted it effortlessly and rounded up the alley to the front of the shop where the street was. 

It took a moment for her eyes to get adjusted to the blinding summer light after the darkness between buildings, but she spotted him. Despite never having been formally introduced, Chou knew in an instant who was here for her. The boy who needed no introduction. “Nishinoya Yuu-san.” She said softly, politely. His sights shifted from all of the shining bottles and the carved doors and fluttering flags to settle on her. He grinned, a bit dopely, it is to be added. She did not. 

  
  


He was a short boy, not much taller than herself, his eyes were sharp and a warm brown, the front of his hair had an odd blonde strip and he seemed jovial despite the circumstances. He looked like a delinquent and wore the gaudiest shirt she had ever seen. Still, she spoke politely and before he could manage to muster whatever foolish words he was planning on saying. “Please follow me.” 

She pedaled without delay, leaving no time for him to think. “I would have thought your family lived above the shop.” He said, pretty much caught up with her as the two of them glided out of town. She had heard Nishinoya was bad at talking to girls, but he seemed to be at ease with her. Chou did not know why, nor did she care enough to inquire about it. 

“Our family has not been able to fit in the shop since the fourth generation, nobody lives up there, well the manager used to.” Chou looked dully at the rice paddies as they passed, seeing the traditional house in the distance. 

“You mean the angry-looking fellow at the register?” The boy persisted, to Chou’s chagrin. 

“No, that is my brother.” Chou said, unoffended. Her brother tended to look angry, it was no reflection on herself. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” She shrugged, steering her bike up to the large, traditional styled house. Chou wasted no time in parking her bike and making her way to the genkan. “I am home.” She announced. 

“Pardon the intrusion.” Nishinoya said from behind her.” An older woman, mid-sixties shuffled to the entrance and bowed. 

“Welcome back Chou-san,” she set away Chou’s and Nishinoya’s shoes before presenting them with slippers. “Shall i prepare snacks for you and your friend?” 

Chou undid her handkerchief from around her head and wiped the sweat away from her neck with it. “Yes, my guest and I will be out by the garden.” 

Chou guided her guest to the garden at the center of the house and instructed him to sit. Shortly thereafter, she came back with a pile of workbooks and sheets. “I want you to solve as many of these questions as you can while I am gone.” She handed him a clipboard with a few sheets of paper and a pencil. 

She left when he began filling out answers. She padded across the house to her room. Quickly, Chou changed into a baggy tee shirt and a pair of leggings, undoing the complicated knot on her head and pulling it up in a half ponytail. By the time she returned, Nishinoya was all the way through and there was a tray of traditional sweets, fruits, and chilled barley tea. Silently, she sat on the other side of the tray from him, dangling her feet over the edge of the walkway. 

She gestured for the boy to turn over his work and checked the problems. His face reddened a bit when she made eye contact with him. He opened his mouth to say something when she quickly suggested, “Why don’t you have a snack, Nishinoya-san?” She was dismayed, he should have been able to get through most of the questions, and there were quite a few he had gotten wrong of what he answered. “I can see why I was asked to do this now.” She said, mainly to herself. “Okay.” She looked up at him. “When you are answering these questions, how much time do you spend on each one?” 

“I don’t know,” he didn’t meet her gaze, he fiddled a bit in his lap, “a couple seconds.” 

“Do you double check them?” She asked, scribbling something on the paper. 

“I am not afraid of getting them wrong!” He said proudly, foolishly. 

Chou narrowed her eyes at him. “Nishinoya-san,” she said in her customer service voice, “you will be scared when your captain and vice captain find out that you were not doing everything in your power to pass your studies.” Her words came out icy cool, and as if threatening to incite a fight. 

He gulped down the slice of pear and nearly choked. “Now,” she said serenely, “let’s begin with the basics.” 


End file.
